Blackford Hill

11/07/2025

Come and listen to the album live on Sunday at The Voodoo Rooms!

Super happy to finally hold our new record! Gracias for believing in our project, for the gorgeous cover art, for making it sound amazing, for all the incredible images, .ave for her singing but most importantly, the magical mist forests of Valle de Bravo and all the beautiful beings within it for being such a source of inspiration. See you at the on Sunday for a very special album launch!

05/07/2025

.spice My latest piece for profiles Ultramarine (), the duo of Paul Hammond and Ian Cooper whose breezy electro-acoustic productions compelled Simon Reynolds to coin the term “pastoral techno” back in the days when genres mattered and a music journalist’s primary function was to figure out which was which.

While it was impossible to avoid the term completely, expect references to bucolic misadventures, the gentrification of Hoxton and perhaps the only time the Thames Esutuary has ever been compared to the setting of a Gabriel Garcia Marquez novel.

🛶

02/07/2025

Morgan Szymanski and Tommy Perman will be launching their next collaborative album at The Voodoo Rooms in Edinburgh on Sunday 13th July - with live support from the wonderful Other Lands.

We have a few early bird tickets remaining, and each of these includes a scarce copy of our ‘East Neuk Transmission’ CD, created for Morgan and Tommy’s 2023 performance at the East Neuk Festival.

The CD features tracks from Andrew Wasylyk, Liz Lochhead, Rob St John, Ultramarine, King Creosote, Simon Kirby and many more.

http://www.eventbrite.com/e/1310435661339/?discount=EARLY

23/05/2025

Soundtrack : Ultramarine ‘Sunrise’ - newly released this stunning sun-filled morning on



Blue Sky over The Valleys this morning
Treorchy - Rhondda Valleys - South Wales

28/04/2025

This Saturday in Edinburgh… Ultramarine + Other Lands + discjocelyne at Sneaky Pete’s…

Gigs this week, tickets in bio.

25/04/2025

Delighted that will be joining and on Saturday 3rd May…

It’s nice to go back to a tuning you haven’t used in a while - I often find ideas immediately start flowing, and I’ll sometimes capture those early sketches on film so I can not only hear but also see what I did.

Every so often I might feel inclined to share these bare bones with other people, particularly when I have something to promote… so… today is your lucky day, other people!

Very soon I shall be attempting to make stuff up on the spot in public once more. I already posted these two upcoming gigs in my stories but here they are, in solid form, so you have absolutely no way of saying I never told you so.

First up - next Friday, 25th of April at - I’ll be joining those other others from other mothers once more, as present a stacked line up with myself and two other acts I’m personally looking forward to catching for the first time, and .tree … this will be my first live outing in nearly two years!

Then - post Beltane weekend, Saturday 3rd of May at - I am extremely honoured to share a bill with thee legendary Ultramarine / . A constant source of inspiration for some 30 years (!) - should be ultra fun. Ably assisted by top selector and hosted by the wonderful … this will be my second live outing in nearly two years!

Can’t wait to get outside again, hope to see you there my friends x

21/04/2025

Ultramarine / Live In Edinburgh

Join us for Ultramarine's first ever live performance in Edinburgh at Sneaky Pete's on Saturday 3rd May.

With support from and Other Lands and discjocelyne (DJ set).

Tickets available from https://bit.ly/ultramarine_edinburgh

Ultramarine are the London & Essex-based electronic duo, Ian Cooper and Paul Hammond.

Formed in 1989, the duo’s early releases were issued on the seminal Brussels-based label Les Disques du Crépuscule. Their classic second album, Every Man And Woman Is A Star (1991), was neatly described by Simon Reynolds in his book Energy Flash as:

“Perhaps the first and best stab at that seeming contradiction-in-terms, pastoral techno... all sun-ripened, meandering lassitude and undulant dub-sway tempos... like acid-house suffused with the folky-jazzy ambience of the Canterbury scene.”

Get your tickets now for Ultramarine by Sneaks Events CIC on 03/05/25 in Sneaky Pete's, Edinburgh

12/04/2025

Ultramarine live at Sneaky Pete's on Saturday 3rd May. Our first ever show in Edinburgh!

Hosted by Blackford Hill.
With Other Lands (live) & discjocelyne (DJ).

Tickets:
https://www.eventim-light.com/uk/a/62028789e47d784b3e3da8f3/e/67a220b0e5e2da38b16d4a07?lang=en

12/04/2025

Ultramarine live in Glasgow on Friday 2nd May. Looking forward to returning to The Glad Cafe!

Hosted by Blackford Hill.
With The Shell Band & Georgina Penstkart.

Tickets:
https://www.thegladcafe.co.uk/events/2025-05-02-ultramarine-plus-the-shell-plus-georgina-penstkart-the-glad-cafe

11/04/2025

Released today! I’m delighted to share ‘Harmonic Rain’ – the first single from my forthcoming album ‘Songs for the Mist Forest’ (Blackford Hill, Summer 2025) made in collaboration with my dear friend Morgan Szymanski. Available to stream / download now. Links in my bio.

Our first album ‘Music for the Moon and the Trees’ (Blackford Hill, 2022) explored sounds of the flora and fauna around the Scottish woodland where my parents live. ‘Songs for the Mist Forest’ explores the current environmental crisis facing Morgan’s hometown of Valle de Bravo, Mexico.

The new album grew out of a soundtrack for a documentary that Morgan and I were commissioned to compose. The documentary ‘El Dragón de los Bosques de Niebla’ (‘The Dragon of the Mist Forest’) shines a light on the ecocide that’s happening in Valle de Bravo. Overdevelopment is destroying the forests that are home to Abronias, beautiful small reptiles native to the region and the ‘dragons’ of the film’s title.

One of the documentary’s filmmakers Juan Pablo Ortíz has made a beautiful video for ‘Harmonic Rain’ which will be shared in full by Caught by the River on Earth Day (22 April).

Morgan and I will be launching the album with a special one-off performance at The Voodoo Rooms in Edinburgh on Sunday 13 July. Save the date!

09/04/2025

We’re looking forward to welcoming Ultramarine back to on 02.05.25

With support from .shell.band and

Ticket links in bio 👆🏽

Ultramarine are the London & Essex-based electronic duo, Ian Cooper and Paul Hammond.

Formed in 1989, the duo’s early releases were issued on the seminal Brussels-based label Les Disques du Crépuscule. Their classic second album, ‘Every Man And Woman Is A Star’ (1991), was neatly described by Simon Reynolds in his book ‘Energy Flash’ as:

“Perhaps the first and best stab at that seeming contradiction-in-terms, pastoral techno... all sun-ripened, meandering lassitude and undulant dub-sway tempos... like acid-house suffused with the folky-jazzy ambience of the Canterbury scene.”

In 2023, we released ‘Send and Return’, the result of a live session captured onboard a barge floating on the Blackwater Estuary, recorded in 2020. Paul and Ian were joined by Greg Heath (on saxophones and alto flute) and Ric Elsworth (percussion and vibraphone). Flowing and mutating as it transitions from an Essex river into the open sea, the Blackwater Estuary, north of London inspired this beguiling collection of hypnotic jazz, itching electronica and softly dazzling ambient shapes.

The Glad Cafe. The Glad Cafe, What's On, Food & drink, Glad Rags, Glad Foundation, About, Shop and Book a Table

27/10/2024

Many thanks to and for sharing ‘Waveshape Sequence’, a track from ’s album ‘Cupar Grain Silo’ on last Sunday’s ‘Dream Time’ show. you can listen again via .

‘Cupar Grain Silo’ is Sam Annand’s first release for Blackford Hill. Its nine tracks blur the lines between ambient electronica and sonic history, as synthesised melodies and rhythms reverberate through the extreme acoustics of the disused Cupar Grain Silo in Scotland. Built in 1964 as a sugar store, the silo towers 60 metres above the surrounding Fife countryside. Its industrial life was short: in 1971 it was closed, and barring a short period as a grain store, remained empty for decades.

You can find out more and pre-order the 12” vinyl release over at our Bandcamp store - link in bio ☝️